Quadruple home wins for Senior Sabres basketball teams

Chris Davis and Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

Girls SV: Livingstone Sabres vs Halton Hawks:

Sabres vs Hawks
C. Davis photo

On Monday evening December 3 Livingstone School's Sabres SV Girls hosted their Halton Hawks counterparts.  A friendly rivalry was evident during the game.

C. Davis photo

In the first quarter the two teams were neck and neck, ending with the Sabres slightly ahead by 15-14.  The second quarter was more of the same, featuring lots of back and forth action and good defensive work in particular on both sides.  The Hawks outscored the Sabres by two this time, finishing the quarter with the score at 26-25 in the Hawks favour.

The Sabres fell apart a bit in the third quarter, scoring only 7 points.  With 18 points to their credit the Hawks were ahead 44-32.  The situation was reversed in the fourth quarter, with the Hawks scoring only 9 points and the Sabres scoring 25 points to win the game 57-53.  #6 Sheanna Schamber was the top scorer for the Sabres with 13 points.  Sabres #12 Reagan Bousquet and #10 Rebecca Lowry were right behind her with 12 points each.  Sabres #9 Gabi Feller scored a respectable 8 points.  Hawks #9 Dakota Van Loon was the top scorer of the game. Hawks #13 Larissa McGlynn scored 10 points. Hawks #10 Megan Albert and #8 Alyssa Barbero each scored 8 points.

Boys SV: Livingstone Sabres vs Halton Hawks:

Sabres vs Hawks
C. Davis photo

Following the Girls game on Monday evening the SV Boys Hawks and Sabres were up.  Elizabeth Lowry was sitting in as Coach for the Hawks with John Lowry assisting.  The last time these two teams met, at the pre-season tournament held over the preceding weekend, the Sabres dominated the Hawks, and this game continued that theme.  The Sabres were ahead by 35-5 at one point, ultimately winning the game by a score of 93-43, which was actually a much improved ratio over the previous game.  The Sabres are an incredibly strong team and the Hawks have a lot of work to do if they're going to be competitive against them.  However, the Hawks do seem to be doing that work, and their teamwork showed definite signs of improvement.

Girls SV: Livingstone Sabres vs Coalhurst Trojans:

Sabres vs Crusaders, Caitlyn Paton with the ball
T. Lucas photo

On Wednesday evening, December 5 the Livingstone Sabres SV teams hosted their Coalhurst counterparts. First up was the girls game, with the Sabres facing the Coalhurst Crusaders. The Sabres dominated from the first, working well as a unit and demonstrating effective defensive strategies. They did have a bit of a trial sinking their shots, shooting far more baskets than they sunk.

T. Lucas photo

The Sabres girls are working well as a unit, with good defence strategies. They are aggressive and are willing to take the shots, but not sinking anywhere near as many baskets as the shots they take. Raelyn Rutledge and Reagan Bousquet were again commanding presences on the court. The Crusaders defence had trouble dealing with the Sabres offence, but were evidently quite practiced at getting it through the hoop when the opportunities arose. In the end the Sabres came out on top by a score of 56-35.

SV Boys: Livingstone Sabres vs Coalhurst Trojans:

Sabres vs Trojans
T. Lucas photo

After the girls game the Sabres boys faced their Trojans counterparts. The Sabres defeated the Trojans the preceding Saturday to take first place in the Dragons pre-season Tournament (click here and scroll down for that story)  and it was evident that both teams were eager for the rematch.

T. Lucas photo

The Trojans took an early lead in the first quarter, but the Sabres bounced back and were ahead 15-7 at the end of it. The Trojans began to catch up in the second quarter, and by the end of it the gap was narrowed to 27-20. For much of the rest of the game the two teams remained only 4 to 7 points apart, with the Sabres still maintaining their lead.

The Trojans put on a huge effort in the final thrilling quarter, until finally tying it up 51-51 with only 1:01 left on the clock. They took their first lead seconds later, 53-54. With only 6.8 seconds on the clock Sabres #2 Aaron Brown (a grade 12 student at Livingstone)  made an incredible long-shot while being hassled at the side periphery of the court to make it 55-54, to seal the win for the Sabres. In the last seconds the Trojans made one more attempt, but it bounced off the rim. Epic. If you get a chance to see these two teams play each other, go.

Above and below: An epic ending

C. Davis photos

The SV Sabres had some help from two athletes brought up from the JV Sabres to fill in for injured players. Ross Cook and Eric Cadonic fit right in with the older squad.  "They have a really strong squad this year, amazing," said Coach Brian Delinte.  "They can all handle the ball." "Cadonic's older brother usually plays for the Sabres, but was in too much pain form an injury to leave the bench so Eric filled in for him. "He's a phenomenal player," Delinte said of Eric.

"We had it won by 15 to 20 points at one point and then we got into foul trouble and lost two of our top players just due to fouls, and then we were in trouble. We had to sit up and take notice."

Of the final game in the pre-season tournament which resulted in a first place win for the Sabres over the Trojans Delinte said it was "Amazing, they (the Sabres) really made the crowd go wild over that win, because it looked like they (Trojans) were going to come back and do well."

"We beat every team we played we played well right up to the end of it.  Now we've only got so much bench and we don't have enough wind so that we can play that momentum all the way straight through.  We'd like to get rid of the injuries. Then we're going to end up with the Christmas break too, and then we're going to be back to starting over again.  Hopefully we're going to be healthy by then."

"These kids we've got here, I've coached them right from grade 6 all the way up, almost the same kids, and we've had ups and down, and now they're starting to click, and they're watching for passes, and they're a really fast moving team."  Delinte said skill and teamwork was the key for his squad.  "We've only got one guy that's tallish.."

Delinte said eyeing the Provincials was a definite possibility for the team. "It just depends on what Foremost and those southern teams do. We've got enough talented  players."  He cautioned that humility was important, and certain members of the squad should not forget the fundamental importance of teamwork. "You've got to have discipline.

Upcoming schedule:

• The SV Sabres Boys will be playing at a tournament in Taber this weekend.
• The SV Sabres Girls are holding their home tournament on Friday and Saturday, and have their first game scheduled at 3:00 pm on Friday, December 7.